Computer server products and their associated devices normally occupy enclosures that are referred to as racks. Racks provide space for housing equipment such as computer servers and other types of equipment. Racks are required to meet certain tip test standards These standards provide guidelines that each rack must comply with for its most extreme allowable server configuration. Drawer density may be defined by the configuration of various server products within a rack, along with the sheer density of components and hardware comprising each server. As drawer density increases and new configurations are offered, it becomes increasingly challenging to populate racks and still pass testing.
Increasing the foot print of a rack by add on extensions such as bolt on casters, out riggers, etc. have attempted to solve this problem, however these extensions require a significant amount of installation time as well as increase the cost of labor. Also, end users must find an area to store the extensions when not in use. The end users may discard the casters after initial installation and later move the rack using its permanent casters at a later date.
Some casters are permanently attached to the rack. However, they are in a fixed position, under the rack, which provides insufficient wheel base to safely move a fully loaded rack. Therefore, users are asked to depopulate the top portion of the rack to lower the center of gravity to make rack moving safer. Unfortunately, depopulating the top portion of the rack is not a very desirable option (requires un-cabling, forces manual moving of those components and requires a re-assembly option).